Migrants arrive in a holding area just metres from the Croatian border after walking the last few kilometres from Serbia to Croatia as more migrants continue to arrive by bus on September 21, 2015 in Sid, Serbia | David Ramos/Getty

EU forces through refugee deal

Countries outvote Eastern European opponents of plan that relocates asylum-seekers.

EU governments on Tuesday approved a controversial plan to relocate 120,000 refugees across the continent, forcing adoption of the measure over the objection of several countries that opposed mandatory criteria for the acceptance of asylum-seekers.

Four countries were strongly dug in against the proposal: Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Czech Republic. But other member states had the votes to pass it, using an EU rule that allows certain decisions to be made without a consensus. Finland abstained from the vote, diplomatic sources said, and Poland, which had been opposed to quotas, sided with the majority.

Interior ministers from the EU's 28 countries held an emergency meeting in Brussels Tuesday to approve the proposal, which was left on the table after they failed to agree on it a week ago. Diplomats had spent most of Monday and part of Tuesday trying to break the impasse between countries over whether the plan would set mandatory quotas for accepting refugees.

“We would have preferred to have an adoption by consensus but we didn’t manage to achieve that,” said the Council meeting's chairman, Jean Asselborn, the foreign minister of Luxembourg. Some countries, he said, had “their own legitimate points of view.”

Eastern European countries remained opposed to any plan that included a requirement from Brussels to take in asylum-seekers. Now they will have to do so under EU law.

The decision sparked a strong reaction from the governments that were opposed to it. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico told his parliament's EU affairs committee, "As long as I am prime minister, mandatory quotas will not be implemented on Slovak territory."

The pressure to move on the refugee issue has been building throughout the past week, leading ministers to use the political "nuclear option" of qualified majority voting to adopt the relocation scheme. The voting mechanism is common for less-controversial measures, but has never been used for something as sensitive and divisive as refugee relocation.

On Wednesday, EU leaders will gather for an emergency summit on the migration crisis, and officials pushed to have the relocation dispute settled before then so they can focus on other issues, such as tighter border controls and funding for Turkey, where many refugees are currently being housed in camps.

The East-West split shown in the vote by ministers is certain to make the discussion around the leaders' table a difficult one. “There will be some damage control for European unity” at the summit, said one Central European diplomat.

But EU officials said the decision was an important step forward.

”It is not going to solve the crisis but without it we could have not taken the next steps…on foreign and development policies,” said Frans Timmermans, the Commission’s first vice president, in a press conference after the meeting.

Members of the Visegrad group, which brings together leaders of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, met Monday afternoon in Prague to discuss “possible solutions” to the refugee crisis. After the meeting the countries reiterated their opposition to mandatory quotas.

But Poland shifted away from the other Visegrad countries, indicating it was ready to take refugees though it remained opposed to mandatory quotas imposed by the Commission.

“We are prepared to accept migrants but not quotas,” said Poland's interior minister, Teresa Piotrowska, before the meeting in Brussels Tuesday.

“The Eastern Europeans knew since the beginning of the meeting that this was the outcome,” said one EU diplomat.

Front-line states

The scope of the migration problem was underlined this week when the EU released new figures showing that more than 210,000 asylum-seekers applied for protection in the Union in the second quarter of 2015. Those numbers do not take into account the thousands of refugees now arriving daily at Europe's borders.

Both of the Commission proposals now left out of the new agreement — the inclusion of Hungary in the relocation plan and the criteria for distributing refugees across member states — have faced fierce resistance in recent weeks.

After changing its line several times, Hungary refused to be considered as a front-line state for the arrival of refugees, along with Italy and Greece, and in draft conclusions being worked on Monday by the Council it had been removed from the plan.

The original Commission proposal was to relocate 54,000 migrants from Hungary, 50,400 from Greece and 15,600 from Italy. The problem for diplomats was to decide what to do with the 54,000 refugees that Hungary is now refusing to relocate.

According to the decision these 54,000 will be proportionally relocated from Italy and Greece unless the Commission in the next 12 months offers a different proposal for another country — possibly also Germany.

“Germany could ask for it but whether we will do it or not is another question,” Thomas de Maizière, the German interior minister, told reporters after the meeting.

Under the agreement, in “exceptional circumstances” a member state that is exposed to a sudden inflow of refugees can ask for a temporary suspension of up to 30 percent of applicants allocated to that nation.

'Voluntary'

An earlier agreement on the Commission's proposal from May to relocate 40,000 refugees required a delicate compromise making the target figure mandatory but the method for reaching it voluntary. That less-ambitious agreement was finalized last week by ministers, but the headline goal has still not been reached.

To sidestep the mandatory versus voluntary problem, this time the number of refugees each country will take in has not been imposed by the Commission but rather agreed by the various member states.

“Numbers have been roughly agreed with each member state, so [sovereignty] is safe,” one EU diplomat said.

“The fact that in many cases the number of refugees to take in is very similar to the numbers proposed by the Commission is a pure coincidence,” noted another EU diplomat.

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ironwoker

“EU tries to unblock refugee relocation deal”

Good Luck, but I doubt it. With Orban like politicians with a deformed vision of what EU is about and stands for, it seems that we will end up with imposed (not negotiated) quotas rather than a “deal” more likely. Is just fascinating to contemplate 28 divergent hard core opinions at work.

ExLiberal

Even if the EU governments come to some sort of face-saving “agreement,” the various countries will ignore or evade their pledges once the bill comes due.

Posted on 9/21/15 | 9:48 PM CET

AttilasDaughter

I have a feeling that mass immigration by muslims is a tool to destroy national identity.

The immigration of muslims since the 70s must not have accomplished that to the satisfaction of the elites.

Now comes the knock out punch.

Hopefully this knocks out the elites dream of a new world order with world government ruled by them.

Posted on 9/22/15 | 4:43 AM CET

Mackensen

Each of the countries involved have signed the 1951 UN convention on refugees. This convention does not say anything about numbers – the countries actually have signed to take unlimited numbers of refugees. It would be a good idea to bring the UN in and to ask the countries if they want to drop of this convention or not. Only than the question of distribution and solidarity within the EU can start.

Posted on 9/22/15 | 11:18 AM CET

Simona

The problem is with the “permanent relocation scheme”. It is what the East of Europe is afraid.

Posted on 9/22/15 | 1:36 PM CET

Tomas

Here, in the Czech Republic, our government has strong public support simply not to respect this. In Slovakia, PM Fico already announced the same. I would personally rather quit EU than to let those mo******s from Brusseles to force us to something like that.

On the other hand, if Germany could repeatedly breach anything what they need, we can do the same.

Posted on 9/22/15 | 7:23 PM CET

Tomas

Now it is a perfect time to prove that EU is nothing more than a paper tiger. I bet that if we will simply ignore it, nothing finally happens. we have survived Soviet Union, hopefully we survive even European Union.

Posted on 9/22/15 | 7:33 PM CET

charlie-papa

On the other hand neither Italy or Greece can become the warehouse of refugees.
Unhuman countries which donnot agree on accepting their share/burden should be isolated and
ostracized from Europe. Nazi behaviour not acceptable

Posted on 9/22/15 | 7:47 PM CET

Laszlo

Let the Brussels bureaucrats and Germans with their Mother Teresa in charge shove their beloved Islamist brothers right in the *&/*% !
We don’t want Islam in Hungary. Over our dead bodies !

Posted on 9/22/15 | 8:06 PM CET

Tomas

EU has no real power to enforce anything. What will be the result if we simply reject? Nothing – EU court will be solving it for years and then there will be perhaps some fine or whatever. Will Brussels send army to the Czech Rep., Slovakia or Hungary? EU is just a paper tiger with zero real power (as proven e.g. while Ukraine crisis). Germany breached rules many time. Now is our turn. So what?
I am afraid that the dissolution of EU was just started.

Posted on 9/22/15 | 10:34 PM CET

juvenis

Media should stop talking about East /West division . A majority of the people in western Europe are as much opposed to this invasion than in the East . Difference is that East politicians seem to listen to their people more than in the west . This whole debacle is an abject lesson of incompetence and hubris on the part of Germany . If that is Germany’s idea of Europe , I do not want it . Thought I would never say that but this is too much , and European citizens should not be taken for granted by our gutless politicians .

Posted on 9/23/15 | 4:08 AM CET

Jiri

I am from the Czech Republic and I desperatley hope that this will mark the end of the EU. If you could go through comments on Czech web pages, you would better understand that the vast majority of people are absolutely opposed to accepting people from the Third World. By the way, how many of those immigrants are genuine refugees? Why do not the EU representatives seek to address the issue of economic immigrants, who – according to some statistics -account for about 80 per cent of all? Why do not our representatives consider effective defence of the Schengen area? Why are mainsteam media always keeping silent about rising crime rates in any countries which have been “politically correct” and tolerant to immigrants from those countries where cultural, social and other attitudes are entirely diffrent from ours? I have seen a Parisian suburb where immigrants live, I have driven through Berlin´s Neukoln (I am not sure about the name of that quarter but I hoe I have not made a mistake) and I do not want to have any similar places in our republic. I do not want to tell my daughters not to wear skirts not to “tease” and offend our neighbours from Islamic countries who have not been actually invited to our country by almost anyone, but the EU politicians. I do not want to be required to pay them 2 or even more thousand euros pocket money, in addition to full board and lodging. For illustration, the average salary and the average pension in this country are about one thousand and four or five hundred euros per month respectively. I do not want any subsidies provided by the EU on bicycle paths, bird feeders and other silly things in exchange for the loss of liberty to invite and accept only those guests I am actually willing to see and fully able to give them a helping hand. This explains why there are voices demanding a referendum on resigning the CR´s membership in the EU.

Posted on 9/23/15 | 7:48 AM CET

Simona

The task was to relocate 4.000 and after it 120.000 people. What about the rest – thousands, who are already in or who are just comming to Europe? Next and next quotas? EU is kidding us.

Posted on 9/23/15 | 9:27 AM CET

Groundskeeper Willie

Good. I am absolutely sure I will never ever vote for any pro-european party anymore. I must be a nazi, right? The sooner we get ostracized from the EU, the better. Yesterday was too late. Now we know that “Europe” actually only means incapacity of western politicians´ to curb inflated welfare states, inflated rhetorics and inflated egos. Self-destructive incompetence veiled as “european values”. This choice was a mistake, time to leave. Cheers from Czechia.

Posted on 9/23/15 | 9:51 AM CET

jacob

What absolute rubbish! None of the important issues are addressed. For example, how will Europe separate economic migrants from legitimate Syrian asylum seekers? What will happen to the economic migrants? Are they going to be sent back? To where and by whom? Where do the migrants and refugees have to register? Greece, Italy? How will they get to their assigned EU country and most importantly, who will make sure that they receive help there. Who will pay for the services provided for them? Oh, and how will the EU make sure that the refugees from Poland will not leave and resettle in Germany?
They should have started cooperating with Syrian refugee centers immediately to make it clear, that people must apply for asylum there!
The ministers who approved the plan just ensured that even more migrants will arrive to Europe.

In practical terms these achievements are more manisfest in the single currency bloc to freedom movement within the borders without passport free zone known as Schengen area both are being put to the test like never before Happy Sustainability 2015

Posted on 9/23/15 | 4:04 PM CET

Steve

So Poland broke solidarity with the Visegrad group to vote for mandatory quotas of Mid-East “refugees” (mostly economic migrants) after giving the impression it opposed them – it sides with the EU big-wigs against its own local friends and European sovereignty and integrity – shame on Poland for such cowardice and hypocrisy – the current Polish leadership shows it knows which side its bread is buttered on. How pathetic..

[…] 2015/1601, which was not adopted unanimously but with a qualified majority in the Council, with vehement opposition from the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary. The latter two, in December 2015, even […]

Posted on 6/6/17 | 10:59 AM CET

makev

in order to join any club, one has to accept its rules or you cannot join. there not a la card arrangements afterwards. the visegard countries sign the entry criteria to ji
oin the eu and now they want to have
their cake and eat it .the honest thing will be to
get out of the eu as the brits did.the eu however should facilitate this exits.
eu is anyway too big for its boots and unable without democratic reforms in a legal system, to manage efficiently and transparently its affairs, as pointed by professor garoufakis.